


A Lovelorn Letter

by Eames_528



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fic Exchange, Fluff, Gen, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 15:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3451940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eames_528/pseuds/Eames_528
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony convinces Steve to finally confess his love to Darcy in a love letter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lovelorn Letter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zebzy1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zebzy1/gifts).



> This is my contribution to the 2015 Steve/Darcy Valentine's Day fic exchange. This was written for and based on a prompt by zebzy1. This is my first time writing a fic for this pairing, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! A thank you also goes out to my beta forevergingeratheart on tumblr!

Darcy swore viciously under her breath as the February chill ripped her unpleasantly from her early-morning daze. Letting the front door of her apartment close with a thump, she pulled her scarf tightly around her face and clumsily locked her door. Taking off her gloves would have no doubt resulted in third degree frostbite. Or maybe she was just being over dramatic. Her footsteps echoed down the stone hallway as she walked down the stairs and out onto the street. The first order of the day, she decided, was a scorching cup of coffee, otherwise the cold would get the better of her. Darcy speed-walked through the slush lined streets, barely avoiding a sheet of ice water as a bus sped past. Stepping into the cozy warmth of the coffee shop around the corner was a relief. The atmosphere inside buzzed with conversation, commuters, students and tourists alike enjoying their first coffee of the day.

 

“Hey Johnny, you got time to make my favourite?” Darcy grinned at the tattooed barista as she walked towards the counter. Johnny waved back in recognition.

“Sure thing, Darce, for you I’ve always got time,” he winked and added, “You doing anything special for Valentine’s tomorrow?”

 

* * *

 

The sparse sunlight glinted off the various fountain pens, glass paperweights and fancy inkwells in the shopfront display. Several people eyed him curiously as they hurried past, heads bent against the cold penetrating their clothes. Steve himself shivered involuntarily, more due to nerves than the sub-zero temperatures. Why on earth he had thought this was such a great idea he couldn’t remember. He noticed the elderly shopkeeper staring him down from behind the register and decided he’d loitered around long enough.

 

“Good afternoon, young man,” her voice pierced the air like a high caliber bullet. “Is there anything I can help you with today?” 

“No, thank you, just looking.” He shuffled awkwardly into one of the narrow aisles, intently studying the selection of stationery on offer, so as not to give her another opportunity to talk. He grimaced at the garish shades of pink and red surrounding him. _My dear, handsome Valentine,_ it read on a sheet covered in pink and silver love hearts. _For my sexy Valentine_ on another. This was going to be harder than he thought.

 

* * *

 

 _This is going to be harder than I thought_. Tony knew that for all his exceptional qualities, Steve could be a stubborn pig when he wanted to be. Especially when it came to discussing personal matters.

“Tony, this isn’t something I want to discuss with you,” Steve glared at him from behind the desk. “Did Natasha put you up to this?”

“Of course not! I’m here purely out of the goodness of my own heart.” Steve snorted.

“Yeah, right. Since when are you the resident matchmaker?”

“Since yesterday, actually.” Tony paused. Natasha had called from just outside Sarajevo late yesterday evening. Their infiltration of the newly reformed Black Hand Society had gone awry, and now she and Clint were deep undercover on their way to Austria. The conversation had turned to lighter matters, and it was then that Natasha had raised the subject of Steve. And Darcy.

 “Look, Steve, you can deny this as much as you want; we’ve all seen the way you act around her. I’m sure even Darcy knows you like her. It’s only you that doesn’t seem to be able to admit it, so for your own sake, Cap, please just do _something_.” Tony ruffled his hair in frustration and looked up at Steve. Steve blatantly avoided eye contact, glowering resolutely into his coffee, jaw set and mug gripped tight. Tony sighed, silently cursing Natasha for her persuasive arguments.

 

* * *

 

The subway rattled along the tracks, almost lulling Darcy to sleep as she read through the morning’s news on her phone. Every website seemed to spew forth love hearts, sex tips, the best places to wine and dine, and what to do if you were unfortunate enough to be stuck by yourself on Valentine ’s Day. Darcy shut her phone off with a groan and leant her head against the guardrail. The amount of romance related idiocy that pervaded the media around this time of year was nauseating.

As the ride wore on, Darcy unwittingly let her mind wander back to the day before. Johnny’s strangely abrupt interest in her, not only yesterday but for the past two weeks, had sent up all manner of red flags. If the circumstances had been different, she would have most probably said yes, just to have a one-night stand for Valentine’s Day. If it weren’t for Steve she would have said yes. But Steve Rogers seemed to be constantly on her mind as of late. Worst of all, she had been hoping for a sign that he might be just as interested in her as she was in him. It was doing her head in, trying to figure out whether there was more to his conversations with her, other than polite banter. Darcy groaned aloud once again, drawing the looks of several passengers nearby. She glared at them. What was the point of worrying about it _now_ anyway? She would be at work soon anyway. If Steve didn’t make a move today, she decided, she would suck it up and make a move herself.

 

* * *

 

“Mornin’, Darcy.” Steve watched the steel doors to the lift close behind Darcy with a whirr, leaving her standing groggily on the near deserted corridor. He approached her, feeling as tired as she looked. “Feel like a coffee?” Darcy’s eyes lit up.

 “Oh my god, _yes_. I am so tired right now, I need at least ten coffees to even feel human. Gimme!” Steve chuckled as he offered her one of the disposable coffee cups he was carrying. Darcy sipped greedily, the liquid burning her gums and tongue in her haste. Steve watched her surreptitiously. The morning sun painted her tousled hair a chestnut brown, kissed her cheeks and caressed the folds of her clothing. He itched to run his hands along her body, to touch her the way the sun was dancing across her features. With a start, he realized that Darcy was watching him too, a knowing smirk on her red lips. Steve felt his face flushing as he cast around for something to say.

 “So. . .” He thought that his thousands of other conversations with Darcy would have prepared him for the simple sentence that was now stuck in his throat. _Would you like to go to dinner with me?_ The sudden whirr of the elevator interrupted his train of thought and, turning towards the sound, he saw Tony stop short as he emerged from the elevator at the very end of the corridor. His momentary hesitation was barely noticeable as he continued to stride self-assuredly towards them.

 “Mr. Stark, you’re up early today! And looking so well rested too.” There was mock astonishment in Darcy’s voice as she teased him. Tony looked at her with exhausted eyes and an equally mocking smile.

 “I try to get my eight hours after all, Miss Lewis.” The tablet he was holding beeped hectically. “By the way, Pepper needs to see you in my office, Lewis, as soon as possible. And you, Cap, aren’t there things you should be _doing_ today?” Tony threw him a look and raised his eyebrows as he continued his way down the corridor. They followed him at a distance, chatting easily about anything and everything except the fact that it was Valentine’s Day. Steve’s heart rate leapt as they turned the corner to Darcy’s desk. It was now or never, he decided.

 “. . . so she thought it’d be funny to shove the Graham condenser right up-”

“Darcy I, um. . .”

“Hm?” She looked at him expectantly, no doubt annoyed at having been interrupted.

“I just wanted to ask whether-” The shrill ring of the desk phone in turn interrupted him, making Darcy rush to answer it. Furrowing her brows she sat down, mouthing a _sorry_ in his direction with an apologetic grimace. Steve raised his hand in acknowledgement and turned around to make his way towards his own office, where he could recuperate and get some peace and quiet. Today’s technology be damned.

 

* * *

 

“Knock, knock.” Tony rapped sharply on the doorframe of Steve’s tiny office. Steve looked up from writing one of his field reports, closing the laptop and setting it aside.

“Tony. I thought I’d be getting a visit from you today.”

“It’s not what you think. Fury just called in, saying that Nat and Barton were compromised on their way to Austria. Apparently, a late night coffee run had more in store for Clint than he expected.” Tony crossed his arms and rested on the doorframe. “Fury says it’s nothing that the two can’t handle, but he wants an emergency meeting to strategize, for eventual _occurrences_ , as he put it.” Steve groaned, but stood up nonetheless.

“I told Fury Sarajevo should have been a team operation.” Steve sighed. “And we should have discussed emergency procedures _before_ sending them off to god knows where.”

“Too late now. Meeting’s upstairs in ten minutes.” He was about to follow Steve into the corridor, when a pink envelope on the corner of Steve’s desk caught his eye. Checking that Steve was already on his way to the lifts, he stole back into the office to take a closer look. _To: Darcy_ was the inscription. He snickered. Trust Steve to come up with something as sappy as a love letter for Valentine’s Day. Why he hadn’t handed it to her yet was a mystery. No matter, he decided, he could play Cupid for today. He grabbed the letter and speed-walked towards Darcy’s desk. He stealthily slid the pink envelope between a stack of folders on her desk and, making sure no-one had seen him, he calmly walked back to the lifts.

  

* * *

 

When Darcy next bothered to check the clock, it was already twenty to seven. Returning to her desk from the lab three floors below, she noticed the stack of folders that had accumulated next to the computer monitor. Presumably they contained results concerning last week’s experimental ion implantation that Dr. Banner had left for her to graph. He was one of the few people who still preferred paper and pen to Stark’s gadgets. With a sigh, Darcy plonked herself down and pulled the folders towards her. So much for an early night. Something heavy slid to the floor and landed right between her feet. As she bent down to pick it up, she felt her heart start to race as she suddenly recognized whose handwriting had scrawled her name onto the envelope. Not that she had been analyzing Steve Roger’s handwriting. A quick scan of the environs confirmed to her that she was indeed the only one in the vicinity, so she took a deep breath, tore open the envelope and settled in to read the letter. However judging by the fat wad of paper she now held in her hand, the term _magnum opus_ described it far more accurately.

 

* * *

 

A sudden knock at his office door almost made Steve jump out of his skin as he half-dozed in his office chair.

“Steve!” Darcy’s urgent tone filtered through the closed door, making him hurry to open it. Darcy stood there, clasping a familiar pink envelope in her hands. So that was where it had gone. His stomach fluttered as he noticed Darcy’s bright eyes and coy smile.

“I was supposed to give you that this morning.” He chuckled apologetically as he indicated the letter in her hands.

“But you chickened out.” Darcy moved closer, shutting the door behind her.

“Yeah, I did.” She was moving closer still, a playful sparkle in her eye.

“You know, I’ve never had someone write me a love letter before. It’s very sweet.” She had him backed against his desk, with no means of escape. A situation he wasn’t entirely uncomfortable with. “I should thank you.”

There was a momentary silence as they regarded one another. All at once her mouth was on his, her tongue exploring and entwining with his own. Steve reciprocated eagerly, running his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer.

 

After all the worrying, the planning and the _terrible_ start to this morning, he was finally allowed to gather her in his arms like he had always wanted to.

 


End file.
